The Assam Pradesh Congress Committee has strongly condemned the “most barbaric act of police firing and inhumane act” on protesters of Dholpur area in Sipajhar during an eviction drive by the state government against alleged encroachers. Two people reportedly lost their lives in the police firing and many were wounded. Several police personnel also suffered injuries in clashes. A shocking video also surfaced on social media, which purportedly showed an apparently dead or dying man with a bullet wound on his chest lying motionless but still being hit by a man slinging a camera.
The Assam government has ordered a judicial inquiry into the incident of violence. Area superintendent of police Sushanta Biswa Sarma, younger brother of chief minister and BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma, said the protesters were armed with sharp weapons and pelted the police personnel and others present with stones. The police initially fired in the air to disperse the protesters but failed, forcing the men in uniform to shoot, killing two and injuring at least ten others, he said, adding that several policemen also suffered injuries.
The Congress said that the manner in which a protester— believed to be a man in his early 30s, Moinul Haque— allegedly was ruthlessly killed on camera by police personnel and subsequent violence on the deceased by police cameraman Bijoy Sankar Bania, who was later apprehended, in the presence of cops is horrifying. The lone protester brandishing a stick could have been easily overpowered by more than 40 police personnel who were present, the party said. “To shoot a lone distraught protester who is losing his hearth and home is brutally inhuman. The police should have tried to pacify him instead of killing him at point-blank range,” APCC chief Bhupen Kumar Borah said.
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi launched a scathing attack on the state government over the incident on Thursday. “Assam is on state-sponsored fire. I stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in the state— no children of India deserve this,” he tweeted
A Congress delegation led by Borah met Assam governor Jagadish Mukhi on Friday, urging him to stop the eviction drive at Sipajhar in Darrang until a proper rehabilitation package is announced.
It is also pertinent to mention that due to the Covid-19 pandemic, a full bench of the Gauhati High Court headed by the Chief Justice, had ordered in May that any decree for eviction, dispossession or demolition should remain in abeyance, said the party. But, in spite of this, the BJP government remained adamant, behaving in an autocratic manner to evict the residents of Dholpur without any rehabilitation plan, it added.
“The extremely inhuman incident that occurred in Dholpur is undemocratic, unconstitutional and a clear case of state-sponsored fire on people living in the char areas. This incident is a gross violation of Right to Equality,” Borah said.
The Congress has made the following demands:
1. A judicial inquiry of the incident should take place under a sitting judge of the High Court.
2. Immediate halt of the eviction until an appropriate rehabilitation plan is made public.
3. Immediate suspension of the Deputy Commissioner and Superintendent of Police.
4. The cameraman and the police personnel who were stationed and took part in the whole barbaric act should also be accorded exemplary punishment. Moreover those deceased and those injured should be adequately compensated.
5. An all-party meeting along with stakeholders should be immediately called to strategise and plan a rehabilitation and compensation programme for the people of Dholpur.
6. The Congress party feels that the CM Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma despite holding a constitutional post, taking oath to serve and protect all citizens has behaved in a biased manner by constantly giving provocative statements which have made matters worse. His statement of giving full authority to police to do encounter firing had also given license to kill and has dangers of turning Assam into a police state. Dr Sarma thereby as CM should watch his words and orders in future to maintain sanity in police force and peace in the state of Assam. The highly provocative statements of the political secretary of the CM should also be brought under judicial inquiry.
Here are some of the political reactions on the incident:
Mamata Banerjee, West Bengal chief minister
“You have seen what they did in Assam yesterday… What happened to Human Rights there? What happened in a Delhi court today (referring to the shootout in Rohini court in which a dreaded gangster was killed)? What is the law and order condition in your areas and you are pointing fingers at our state?”
Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, religious and political organisation
“We are shocked by such an incident and hope the government will understand the pain of the people.”
Himanta Biswa Sharma, Assam chief minister
“The eviction shall continue. How can you or I settle on government land? People from neighbouring areas who have land in their villages have come and settled here. That cannot be allowed. Those who are landless and poor shall get land according to the land policy, that is 6 Bighas of land. That I have been saying for the last two months.”
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